Bandh total in Mysore, Dharwad

In Mysore and Dharwad the bandh was total on Monday. But for demonstrators, the roads were deserted with no vehicles plying on them and had very few people. Except for a few two-wheelers, all other private vehicles were off the roads.

All businesses remained shut as the Karnataka Chamber of Commerce & Industry and other industry organisations had supported the bandh to protest against the Cauvery Tribunal Award.

But for a lone incident, the situation remained peaceful. At the Railway Workshop in Mysore south, around 20 two-wheelers were set on fire when Krishnaraja MLA Somashekar was leading a demonstration. At that time, the Railway Workshop was functioning with the first shift workers. As a result, tension prevailed for some time. Additional police and railway police were rushed to the workshop.

Train services remained affected and a team of Rapid Action Force and Railway Police guarded the railway station. The reservation counters were also shut. Buses were off the roads, petrol bunks remained closed and truck, mini-truck and autorickshaw associations too had extended their support to the bandh.

Several processions and demonstrations were held right from this morning. Heavy police bundobust, including mounted police was seen at all important places.

Four petrol bunks came for attack in Chamarajanagar, when protesters pelted stones. Barring stray incidents, the situation was generally peaceful in the Cauvery basin districts.

The bandh call received good response in Dharwad and Belgaum districts while the response was poor in Bagalkot and Bijapur districts on Monday.

In Dharwad and Belgaum districts the bandh was total and peaceful. All the business establishments downed the shutters. Schools and colleges remained closed while autorickshaws and buses stayed off the roads.

The attendance in government offices was thin as public transport was paralysed. However, some banks did carry out transactions.

Members of Kannada Rakshana Vedike and other organisations took out a procession from Kadapa Maidan to the deputy commissioner's office and submitted a memorandum to the DC. The protesters who had planned to stage rail roko decided against it later.

A group of Hindu Sena activists staged a rasta roko near Srinagar Circle while lawyers took out a procession to protest the Cauvery Tribunal's judgment.

Several organisations, including the Maharastra Ekikarana Samiti supported the bandh call in Belgaum. Schools, colleges, banks and private offices remained closed while the attendance in government offices was thin. The activists stopped the Tirupati-Kolhapur Haripriya Express train for half an hour at Belgaum.

However, people's response to the bandh call in Bagalkot and Bijapur districts was also lackluster. Life was normal in Bagalkot, Mudhol, Jamkhandi, Badami, Banahatti and Rabakavi. The shops downed shutters for a while as the Kannada activists' procession passed through the lane. KSRTC buses were off the roads but private operators functioned as usual.

The lack of response to the bandh call in Bagalkot district is attributed to the people in south Karnataka not raising their voice for North Karnataka whenever there was injustice to the region in sharing Krishna waters with Andhra Pradesh.

Dakshina Kannada too did not have a bandh while in Uttara Kannada the bandh evoked only a partial response.